Today Is Different
by xfirefly9x
Summary: Doctor/Donna. A collection of short fics based on the relationship between Donna and the Doctor.
1. Today Is Different

**_Today Is Different_**

It's pissing down rain and it's cold and gloomy but she doesn't care. Usually she would. She would be yelling her head off at the Doctor for them to go inside to where its warm and dry.

Today is different.

His arms are around her and hers are around him. Their bodies mould together as they sway gently from side to side in perfect syncrony.

It doesn't bother her that her hair is plastered to her face and her clothes are clinging to her.

The ring on her finger more than makes up for that.

It's only right they celebrate.

_fin._


	2. Love You, Thank You

**_Love You, Thank You_**

"I love you!"

"What!?"

"God, I love you!"

He is still staring at her slack-jawed, when she bounds forwards and slams him against the wall.

Her arms somehow tangle around him in the process – he isn't quite sure how – and she buries her head in his shoulder for a moment.

She inhales loudly as she pulls back to look at him and arousal flutters like electricity through his entire body, making his stomach turn over and his hearts flip.

"You what?" he repeats dumbly.

"I love you!" she professes again. Loudly. She grins at him.

"I…uh…thank you?" he tries.

Her eyes glimmer magically at him. "No, thank _you,_ Doctor. The necklace you gave me is absolutely stunning!" She raises a hand – he misses the loss of her warmth on his skin immediately – and traces a finger over the chain around her neck.

"Oh," he says, the situation dawning on him. "Oh!"

She quirks an eyebrow.

"Well then," he covers awkwardly. "I'm delighted that you like it so much."

"Oh yes!" Grinning, she leans in and presses a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. She moves away from him just as quickly and moves off the way she came. "Thank you," she says again. "I love it!"

He nods silently and smiles as she disappears from sight. "I'm glad."

_fin._


	3. New Shoes

**_New Shoes_**

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, _no_!"

"Yes!"

"But Doctor!" She fixes him with a contemplative glare that would make anyone else quiver in their boots.

He grins cheerily back at her – not quite unaffected but quick enough to hide his slight discomfort – and drags a hand through his ruffled hair. "What?" he says trivially. "Do you have a better idea?"

Her face falls. Further. "Well, no. But – "

"We have to go through it then. It's blocked back the way we came." He paused and his voice softened. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course! Of course I do! I trust you with my life."

He gives her a pointed look.

She holds his gaze for about ten seconds before she caves. "Oh, fine! But you're buying me new shoes after this! These ones will certainly be ruined." She scrunches up her face when she notices him sizing her up. "What?"

"Better idea," he informs her.

There's a high pitched squeal as he picks her up in his arms and begins to carry her though the stretch of mud separating them from the TARDIS.

"You're _carrying_ me?" she exclaims right into his ear, making him wince. "You'd better not drop me!"

A small smile flashes over his face, momentarily replacing the concentration required to keep going. "I won't," he replies through gritted teeth. "Promise."

"Well. At least my shoes'll be all right then." She gives a small squeak of approval and nestles deeper into his arms. He breathes in her warmth.

"Off we go then."

_fin._


	4. Tradition

**_Tradition_**

"Kiss me."

Her eyes widen and she whirs around to look at the Doctor. She puts her hands out in front of her and pushes on his chest to keep him back.

"Oy! I thought we had an understanding, you prat!" she exclaims loudly. A few startled partygoers raise their heads in surprise. "No funny business, remember?"

He shakes his head defensively and points upwards.

She follows the line he gestures in with his eyes.

Mistletoe.

"Is it not tradition that we kiss now?"

She is trapped in his soulful brown eyes.

She swallows.

"Well, okay. If it's for tradition…"

_fin._


	5. For His Whole Life

_A/N: Tag to 4x13 Journey's End._

**_For His Whole Life_**

He looks down at her still form as she sleeps off the effects of having her memory wiped clean. His heart aches with every rise and fall of her chest. With every breath she takes he is reminded that when she wakes, she will not know him. There's nothing worse that he can think of.

Everything in him screams that he should go back in time and fix what happened to her. Everything in him screams that he should find some way to protect her that he couldn't think of the first time around. He shouldn't be leaving her like this. It's not right.

He takes a deep breath and slowly exhales.

And screw the consequences! This is Donna and she doesn't deserve this. She deserves access to the memories of all the things she has done with him on the TARDIS. She deserves to remember. She is his one in five billion; he wants her to know that.

But, no.

He can't.

To change time to save her would be wrong. It could be disastrous and he can't risk it. She has saved him on many occasions in many different ways, but he cannot do the same for her this time.

He _had_ to erase her memories to save her life. He had no choice.

In his heart, he knows he'll carry the guilt around with him for years to come (for his whole life). He will keep an eye on her from afar and make sure she's okay – but even if she is okay, and he's certain that she will be, he will feel guilty for what she has lost and can't recall.

He also knows in his heart that while he'll miss her like crazy and feel her loss every day, he has done the right thing.

_fin._


	6. Karma Strikes Back

**_Karma Strikes Back_**

"What the hell is that?!" Donna hisses all of a sudden, staring past him at... something.

He narrows his eyes in confusion and shrugs. "What's what?"

She gestures wildly with one hand. "That! Look over your shoulder!" Her lips press together to form a thin line. It worries him and makes his stomach flip irrationally.

Must be something big, he deduces, and at once he spins around to look behind him. He squints. He strains his eyes. He sees nothing out of the ordinary.

When he turns back to Donna, she is raising a cookie – his cookie – to her mouth. She stops at once and sits still. Very still.

"Donna," he warns.

"Doctor," she says back no less firmly.

"There was nothing there, was there?"

Silence.

He stares intently at the cookie in her hand.

"Actually, yes," she announces. "There was something. And there it is again! Do you see it?"

He glances around and again there is nothing. He looks at Donna and then his plate. Another cookie is missing.

He smiles wickedly to himself.

"I think it's behind you now," he informs her and when she looks, bewildered, he steals back two of her cookies.

_fin._


	7. Always Like This

**_Always Like This_**

Forever is a long time. She can feel how long it is now that she's part Time-lord. Each and every agonising second lasts a zillion years and yet is over all too soon.

Each moment that passes by is as heavy as a heartbeat, pounding, pounding, never stopping. It's amazing. Mindboggling.

She loves it and she hates it and she's fascinated by it.

"Is it always like this?" she asks the Doctor.

He nods and she feels her eyes widen in (almost but not quite) surprise. She smiles tentatively at him as the answer comes to her in her mind and confirms it.

"Well," she says thoughtfully. "That's bloody brilliant!"

_fin._


	8. Not A Chance In Hell

_**Not A Chance In Hell**_

"Not a chance. Not a bloomin' chance in hell!" Donna exclaims loudly. Her voice is grating and is a few octaves higher than usual. Not surprising, really. She'd interpreted what he'd just said as wrong as she possibly could.

The Doctor grimaces. "Donna, no! That's not what I meant."

"What _did _you mean then?" She glowers at him. Her eyes are liquid fury.

"I told Mr Tantalus we were 'mates' as in mates. You know." He gestures wildly with his hands. "Not the friends type of mate."

She looks confounded but relieved. "Oh! Oh good."

He gulps and nods.

"I thought," she begins with a small smile, "that you were trying to break up with me."

"No! No of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Mates," she reminds him.

"Ah. Right! Well, no. That's not... I wouldn't. Donna..."

She raises an eyebrow at him and his hearts flip.

"It's okay, spaceman. You're off the hook."

"Oh?" he says. "Really?"

"If," Donna adds on, her eyes glinting mischievously, "you go and set Mr Tentacles straight."

He grimaces. Mr Tantalus is one of the more talkative guests – in the sense that he has short term memory and tends to forget things minutes after they've been said, resulting in a lot of repetition. "It's Mr Tantalus, not Tentacles," he corrects weakly.

She shoots him a glare.

"Oh. Oh, right." Without another word, he sets off in the direction of one very alien-looking Mr Tantalus. Anything to set things right. "Good evening, sir," he begins when the alien looks up at him. "You know how I insinuated earlier that Donna and I are just mates..."

"Good evening, I don't believe we've met."

The Doctor introduces and reintroduces himself to Mr Tantalus several times before he's at the stage where he has to hold back tears of frustration. If only he could remember a moment or two more, then he'd be able to inform him of his and Donna's relationship! He continues trying.

Off to the side, Donna grips her stomach and attempts not to double over in laughter. "Such an easy mark," she manages and when he looks over at her, she knows he's heard.

"Donna!"

_fin._


	9. Expanding Abyss

_Notes: Spoilers for Journey's End._

_**Expanding Abyss**_

There's an abyss in his chest that he knows never will be filled again.

It was there before he met Donna and in the time that he has known her it had somehow begun to heal. No one has helped him heal like Donna had. She was brilliant and kind and beautiful. She saved him.

He hasn't been able to save her though and that is why the wound is expanding.

Donna is lost to him forevermore and nothing will ever hold the same excitement to him, or the same bounce.

That's what happens every time he leaves someone behind.

_fin._


	10. Blinded By Mistaken Feelings

_**Blinded By Mistaken Feelings**_

_"Don't, don't turn away_

_Don't let it take you over"_

_~ "Don't Turn Away" by Ra_

"Doctor!" she calls desperately.

He doesn't respond, only continues to sit still, his hands clasped loosely at his knees and his eyes focused blankly on the nothingness before him. They are darker than usual, nearly past their natural chocolate brown colour. Nearly black.

She grimaces slightly and repeats herself. "Doctor!"

Nothing.

"Doctor. Answer me!"

Silence.

All right then. That's it! If he's not going to talk to her then so be it. She'll talk to him instead. Maybe she'll worm some sense into that thick head of his! Maybe she'll make him see what's right before his eyes. Clearly he is too blinded by his mistaken feelings of guilt to see it himself.

"Don't," she says simply, "blame yourself for what happened. Just don't." She falls silent, at a loss as to how to go on.

She need not worry.

He slowly turns his head away from her and the words leave her mouth without a thought. "Don't turn away," she says. "Please. Just look at me."

He does albeit slowly and his expression is no less grim.

"You did all you could do. It's not your fault." She can see the muscles in his jaw clench and a stab of pain flash through his eyes, momentarily breaking the darkness in them. "It's not your fault," she says again.

He nods once. The simple movement seems to sap the last of his energy because he visibly deflates then.

She swiftly reaches for him and sits on the edge of the couch beside him. She snakes an arm around his waist and gently urges him to lean on her. He melds into her side and droops his head onto her shoulder.

She can feel his breath on her neck as he heaves out a weighty sigh and then the warmth of his skin on hers as he takes her hand in his. Instinctively, she shifts closer to him and squeezes his hand in response.

She catches a glimpse of a sad but grateful smile on his face when she lifts her eyes to look at him and knows that in time, things will be all right. They will both be okay.

_fin._


	11. Blue In The Face

_A/N: Spoilers for 'Journey's End'._

_**Blue In The Face**_

He can yell at him until he's blue in the face for all she cares. He can beat himself up and do all kinds of things to try to get through to her. She won't budge. Not in the slightest.

No matter what, she will stick by her belief that what she is doing is right. She should be here. She should be with him, her own safety be damned. She doesn't care about staying safe when the only way for that to happen is for her to be without him.

She won't leave him to fend on his own without putting up a hell of a fight and she knows him well enough that she can get under his skin and needle her way into each and every cell of his body like he has done to her.

She won't let him wipe her memory and destroy that.

She pushes him back, hard, before he can begin the process of erasing each and every thought of the times they shared from her mind. She doesn't react to the shock in his brown depths having expected no less from him.

As independent as the Time Lord likes to make out he is, she knows he really does have feelings and the need for companionship. For the past stretch of his life she has been it and she fully intends on pulling that due date further out from them so they can spend eternity forever as they had on a few occasions discussed.

That's how it's meant to be. She's not supposed to end up back at home with her mother, thinking she'd lost an entire year and not having the slightest clue what happened to it.

No. Even if it kills her, she'll not let him. She won't let him wipe her memories.

She won't.

That's an option she fears would be worse than death.

_fin._


	12. Supposed To Be Together

_**Supposed To Be Together**_

He can't hope to imagine the pain she is feeling. The gnawing knowledge that they have gleamed – she may not be a part of his future – is worrisome to him to say the least but he cannot ever know just how much it is killing her.

He doesn't know that what scares her the most is not that she may die (because she might for all they know) but that she'll lose him. She doesn't want to lose him. She really, really doesn't.

They're supposed to be together forever.

Forever.

He doesn't realize that's what's going through her mind after they find out but when they are spared a minute together, alone, he offers her a pained but comforting smile and squeezes her hand.

"It'll be all right," he tells her.

She returns the smile. (Hers is just as forced as his.)

He swallows.

He always has hated to lie.

_fin._


	13. You So Are!

_**You So Are!**_

"Are you jealous?" Donna smirks. She tosses her head back; strands of unruly red hair shimmer fiercely in the sunlight.

The Doctor's eyes widen and he gulps; she grins. "No! Of course not! I'm not jealous. Not me! Not in the slightest!"

"You are! You so are!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"You are! Don't-"

"I'm not!"

"C'mon, Doctor! Admit it! You're jealous." Donna makes a wild gesture in the air with her hands.

The Doctor cringes, clearly horrified.

"You're jealous that a cat can lick itself in public. Say it."

"Never!"

_fin._


	14. This Is The End

_**This Is The End**_

His fingers were cold against her cheek. They chilled her to the bone and set her teeth on edge. Suppressing a shudder as he trailed a line down her jaw line, she forced herself to not move.

"Doctor?" she murmured, when his eyes flicked from her lips to meet hers.

There was intensity in his expression that she had not seen him wear before. It didn't scare her as she almost expected it to but rather, it made her feel all warm and happy inside, in stark contrast to the cool of his touch.

"Donna." He drew out her name. "This is it. This is the end."

"Yes," she agreed.

"There's no place further than this than we can go together."

Eyes met, held.

"Are you ready? Are you absolutely sure that you're ready?"

"Course I'm ready, you prawn!" She waved at her attire as proof: a simple white dress.

A wide grin spread across his face. He turned to the minister, a man so tiny he had to stand on a chair to level with them. He shot another bright smile at her. "Let's get this marriage started, then!"

_FIN._


	15. The Real World

_**The Real World**_

There's a weird sensation in the pit of her stomach when she wakes up. She can't place what it is and it doesn't grow any clearer as she goes about her morning routine. Sylvia catches her staring off into space at breakfast time and asks, "are you all right?" to which she can only shrug.

She wets her lips with her tongue and then frowns. "Do you ever," she begins.

"Yes? Do I ever?"

"Do you ever feel like there's something more out there? Something more than...well, this?" She lets out a short laugh. "I probably sound balmy!"

She's caught off-guard when Sylvia's expression softens. Her mother never has been one for grasping at dreams and imagined fantasies. "Whatever the case may be," Sylvia says, "this here is the real world. This is the world you have to live in."

She frowns some more. "I know that. Of course. I've just felt...off this morning. Like there's something else I should be doing. Somewhere else I should be."

Sylvia lets out a sigh and leans against the kitchen sink. "Best not to dwell."

"But!" she starts.

"Donna."

The feeling remains strong and she knows it's not going to go away easily. Arguing with Sylvia will not help though so she lies. "I'm sure it's just a passing thing. It'll be gone soon enough."

_fin._


	16. Sitting On A Mug

_**Sitting On A Mug**_

Five minutes after they've left the TARDIS to explore, Donna is beaming more than he thought possible. It's a simple planet, one he hasn't been to before, and the streets are crawling (both literally and metaphorically) with festivities, people young and old, human and alien.

They've stopped at a stall selling tie-dyed tee shirts. He's' certain the reason behind Donna's expression is the tiny alien overseeing the booth – from on top of a mug. Its purple skin gleams where it's tiny tie-dyed shirt doesn't cover. Amazing, really. He hasn't seen anything quite like it in many many years. The combination of Earth practices and alien intervention has always fascinated him.

"Blimey," Donna says, jolting him from his thoughts. "That looks amazing! What is it, Doctor?"

"What's what?" he asks.

"That!" Pointing not at the alien he thought she'd find intriguing but rather at an odd shape behind the stall, she turns and looks at him with wide blue eyes.

When he sees what she's gesturing at, he chokes on a laugh. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he gently leads her in the other direction. "That, my dear Donna, is a portable toilet."

"What?! But it was all weird-looking! And so small!"

"An _alien_ toilet," he adds.

The stunned expression on her face sends him into hysterics.

"Oh," she says weakly. She slaps him hard enough to leave a mark, a few minutes later when he still hasn't stopped laughing. "Oh, shut up. It's not _that_ funny!"

"Oh you are so very right," he chuckles. "It's way more funny than that!"

_fin._


	17. Trail of Tears

_**Trails of Tears**_

There are trails of tears running down both her cheeks and yet to him she is still the most beautiful creature alive. The moisture leaking from her eyes is perhaps even more stunning. It shows that she is real. She is true to her emotions and she is not too afraid to hide away and pretend everything okay when really, it isn't.

He whispers it to her. (You're beautiful.)

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head and then sniffs.

(Oh, but you are!)

There's not a sign that she believes him on her face but he can tell his words are having a positive effect on her. There's a twitching at the corner of her mouth, the gentle upward curve of her lips, even though the smile doesn't reach her eyes. It is near invisible but he can see that it is there.

(You're bloody gorgeous!)

He lets her turn away but doesn't take his eyes off her. He wants to see all that she is and he doesn't want to waste a moment he has with her. Time goes at a speed that even it cannot keep track of.

_fin._


	18. An Eternity of Exploration

_**An Eternity of Exploration**_

It's the end. She never thought she'd have to say it, but that day has come. She's leaving the Doctor.

The worst thing is it's not by choice. She wants to stay with him, to roam the world and explore and see things most people only ever dream of seeing. She wants her time with him to last an eternity. But it won't. It can't. Not if she wants to live.

The Doctor isn't about to let her stick around for the remaining few hours of her life when there's an easy fix. Wiping her memory. It kills her to think about it. Once he's erased those memories she will no longer remember their journeys together. She won't remember the good times or the bad. She won't remember him.

Will living her life be enough for her again? Will it hurt to have her memories wiped? Will she ever be able to see the Doctor again afterwards?

Probably not. Well, it might hurt, but 'probably not' answers her other questions. Definitely not is the answer to the last, again, if she wants to live. It's a condition of the wiping. To keep the wipe from reversing she can never see him again.

And what about the Doctor? How will he cope? How will he deal with the loss of yet another Companion? Will he be okay? She has no doubt he will be eventually but she's seen a darker side to him, a side to him with little mercy to wrong-doers, even those trying to reform in some cases. Hopefully in her absence it will not consume him. Hopefully he'll find someone else – sooner rather than later.

She can only hope.

Their time together is coming to a close and they are reaching the end of their journey. Only time will tell what condition they will be in when they make it out on the other end.

_fin._


	19. A Time for Everything

_**A Time for Everything**_

There was a time for everything and a time for nothing. Everything in existence had its place and its reasons and everything meant something, while at the same time _none of it, nothing, mattered, not even slightly_.

Why this moment should be any different, she didn't know. Maybe it was the improbability of the situation they were in, or the fact that it felt so. damn. good. All she knew was that nothing should feel that good, that sensitive to the touch and all nerves on end, firing impulses and heat and passion.

But somehow, it was all of that and more. Somehow, the moment escaped the physics of time itself and lived in a completely different time stream of its own.

Somehow it was perfect, and somehow it was the worst thing she had done, oh so wrong and dirty and bad, but also somehow right.

Her lips quirked up at the corners and she looked into the Doctor's warm chocolate eyes.

"Donna?" he said. "All right?"

She smiled wider and then gave him a small shrug. She could answer him in many ways. She could tell him that she was caught wondering about the philosophical meanings behind all of this, or she could tell him that she was fine. She could tell him she was hungry. She could tell him every single thought in her head.

In the end she simply said, "Time is an odd thing, isn't it?" and leaned in to kiss him again before he could answer. There was no point in hurting his pretty head over her nonsensical ponderings - and after all, it wasn't often she had a naked spaceman in her bed (at least, it wasn't often in this timeline. yet).

_fin._


	20. Blue Box

_**Blue Box**_

Donna joined her mother in the living room, with a huff. "I can't remember."

"Can't remember what, Donna?" her mother asked.

"I... don't know. I know there's something, something to do with a man and his box."

A startled look. Concern. "Oh?"

"But I can't picture it! I can't remember what it is, or what it means!"

She toyed with the edge of her shirt. "Some things are better left that way, Donna."

"But this is important. I know it! It's something... something big."

"It's probably nothing. Maybe something you read about?"

Donna shook her head. "Don't you ever have the feeling you were meant for something bigger? That something or someone out there, in the universe, is calling to you and you belong there?"

"No. Donna, that's crazy. If people hear you talking like this, you'll, you'll..."

"I'll what, mum? Be always known from them on as the crazy ol' ginger with no sense of reality? I'll be given strange looks? Well. I already am. Happy?"

"No. No, that's not what I-"

"What did you mean then?"

Her mother sighed. There was little she could say to soothe her daughter's mind without revealing to her the truth about the Doctor and his blue telephone booth, the TARDIS or whatever insane name it was he called it. "I mean," she finally said, "I don't want you wasting away trying to remember something when you can be living now."

"Oh." Donna sat on the couch. She buried her head in her hands. "I feel like a part of me is missing, though, mum. I don't know what and I don't know how to fix it."

Her mother joined her, patted her on the back. "Time," she said. "Time heals all."

Donna looked up. Something about that struck a familiar feeling within her. She quickly pushed it away. "You're right," she said with a sigh. "I just... wish I knew whatever it is I've forgotten."

"If you're meant to know, you'll figure it out."

"And if not?"

"You'll move on with your life."

_fin._


	21. Blue Rag

_**Blue Rag**_

"For cryin' out loud," Donna said. "Not again!" She searched a second time through her suitcase for her favourite cashmere jumper, but couldn't find it. A frown on her face, she stood up and immediately, she headed through to find the Doctor.

She found him bent over one of the control panels, wiping her down. "Where is it?" she asked him.

After a moment, he asked, "Where's what?"

"You know what. My jumper! My good, expensive cashmere jumper."

"Oh. That." He shrugged.

"Yes, _that_." Her eyes widened. "You did something to it!"

"No. No! No, why would I-?"

"Where is it, Doctor? What did you do?"

The Doctor moved away from the controls, fast, and backed away, his hands out in front of him. "I have no idea where your jumper is, Donna."

"You–"

"I–"

"Is that–" Donna finally noticed the soft blue rag in the Doctor 's left hand – the rag he was using to clean the control panel. She looked from the rag to the Doctor and back to the rag.

The Doctor dropped it and stumbled back a few more steps. "Donna–" he said.

A screech, and the Doctor knew he was doomed.

"_Doctor_!"

_fin._


	22. I Chose Us

_**I Chose Us**_

"Comes with the territory," the Doctor said, and she could easily believe that. Moments before, there had been a look in his eyes unlike any she'd seen before. Moments before, he had killed off an entire race. Set fire to the nest and watch it burn. That's what he had done. And she had let him.

She frowned.

"Not ideal, I know. But... someone has to do it."

"Why?" she asked, surprising even herself.

"Why what?"

"Why does someone have to do it? Why can't we just let them live? What's the harm?"

The Doctor stared blankly at her, and then seemed to return to his body and shrugged.

"Come on. There has to be a reason."

"There isn't, Donna. This is just... it was us versus them. And I chose us."

"But it's unfair."

He nodded. "Yeah, it is. It really is."

_fin._


	23. Putting on Some Pressure

_**Putting on Some Pressure**_

"Step on it!" the Doctor insisted.

Cautiously, Donna lowered her foot.

"Harder."

She frowned, but did as told.

"It can take it," the Doctor said yet again. "Just put your foot down, hard. We'll never get anywhere if you don't put on some pressure."

"Would you kindly shut the hell up and let me do this?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes but stood back. "But all means. Go on then."

She looked down at the creature below her and tried to build up the courage to stomp on its precious little toes. But alas, she could not seem to muster the desire to do so. "Won't it hurt?"

"Donna, we've been through this. It needs a little urging to do its bit."

She kept looking at the creature and refused to press her foot down harder. Finally, she climbed off its back. "No. No, I can't."

"Why not?" the Doctor asked.

She tried to think why she didn't want to step harder on the animal but got stuck. Her mind kept returning to the fact she was _stepping on an animal_. "No," she said, and headed toward the town's train station instead. The train wouldn't arrive for another two hours, but it was better than hurting this poor animal.

The Doctor followed her.

"Never again," she told him.

"But they like it," he insisted, pointing back at one. "It doesn't hurt them. They like helping people around. It's like their version of playing fetch."

"Never again," she repeated.

The Doctor nodded, and with a scowl, led her into the station. "Train it is then."

_fin._


	24. Ratty Shoes

_**Ratty Shoes**_

"C'mon, Donna! Hurry up." The Doctor raced on ahead, an excited grin spread over his face.

She wished she could share in his jovial mood, but was having a hard time finding anything positive about the day so far. She'd misplaced her favourite pair of shoes somewhere on the TARDIS, and had to settle for an old ratty pair for this trip - and it was raining!

It was only raining a little bit - spitting, really - but the tiny spray in her face and dampness seeping from the grass into her shoes, not quite soaking her socks, but dampening them all the same, was enough to make her want to head back in the other direction, climb inside the TARDIS and not come out again until the rain stopped.

"Donna! Follow me."

"I'm coming," she growled, as he continued to skip along merrily.

She quickened her pace and followed him through the field of grass, past another field of yellow flowers she'd have loved to see if the weather conditions were nicer, and onto the cobblestone streets of the town. They ventured past a number of buildings, old looking things, but in decent repair, and through alleyways, until finally, the Doctor stopped at one particular store.

"Thought you might want a look," he said, "Before we have lunch."

She peered past him and through the dusty shop window. "Shoes?"

He nodded and grinned some more. "Can't have you running about all the time with those hole-filled bits of rubber, can we?"

In spite of herself, she smiled.

"Race you in?" he suggested.

"No," she said. "But I'll race you out once I have me a nice new pair of running shoes!"

_fin._


	25. Saved by the Hair?

_**Saved by the... Hair?**_

"Well, don't look at me," Donna said. "Do something!"

The Doctor stared blankly at her. "What?"

"Get moving!"

"What?!"He blinked.

Exasperated, she reached over, grabbed his tie and yanked it. That got his attention. She loosened her grip and told him again, "Come on!"

"It's not my fault," he muttered. "It can't be. I-"

She had no time to soothe his conscience. She barely had time to deal with her own. She pulled at him again and finally, he moved with her. They began to run, leaving behind them the mess of the nest they had destroyed - and somewhere, not far off, the parents.

"They won't care who's at fault when they find their nest. They'll kill anyone nearby."

"How do you know that?" he called back to her.

"They're _parents_," she said.

"Oh. Right." He slowed a moment and nodded to himself, and she had to clip him over the ear to get him moving again.

They arrived back at the lake the TARDIS was parked by as an angry swarm of pidgows beat their wings furiously and dived down, aiming sharp glinting beaks at bare, vulnerable heads.

"Donna! Are you all-" His words were cut off by the squeal of a bird and his own strangled cry of pain as it swooped him. Considering how large the creature was, it came as a surprise to all concerned that there was still some of the Doctor left behind.

"Good thing you have so much hair," she teased, as some more birds swooped her. "Shoo!" she said, waving the birds away. They flew about, furiously, a frenzy of feathers.

"To the TARDIS. Quickly."

Donna nodded and pushed on, glad that the Doctor was finally stepping up.

Together, they stood by the door as the Doctor fiddled with a key.

"Isn't there a faster way to-?"

"Nope."

THUNK!

A bird hit the door and slowly slid down it, til it reached the floor and lay there in a heap.

THUNK!

Another one.

"Faster would be better!" Donna insisted.

"I'm getting there. We're nearly in. We're-"

THUNK!

He pushed the door and the next few birds zoomed in. He hurried in after them and allowed Donna in as well before he slammed the door shut on the rest of the birds. He and Donna shared a concerned look.

"How do we get these ones out again?" Donna wondered.

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, that's fine. I'll have the TARDIS create a new room for them. I always wanted a pet." At that precise moment, a bird shot across the room and landed on his head. It shifted from one foot to the other and then settled down into his hair.

"See? We'll get along just-" The bird pecked his head. "Ow!"

"I'm sure you'll be very happy together," Donna said dryly.

Another peck. "Ow. Yes, we will."

_fin._


End file.
